Seedling buds are typically started in nurseries where they are protected against the elements including animal browsing. However, when the seedlings are transplanted to an outdoor reforestation site or tree farm, they become vulnerable to animal browsing. Browsing damage by vertebrates can affect the growth rate and form of seedlings. If the growth rate is reduced, the time to yield or the yield itself is reduced. If browsing of the apical bud occurs then double leaders are the result, which lowers the quality and form of the final product. Control of browsing is essential to avoid partial or even complete loss of planting stock, and economic failure of a plantation. Seedlings can be protected through a range of lethal and non-lethal methods. When native animals are implicated in causing damage, non-lethal methods should be considered first. Hunting and poisoning are lethal methods of controlling browsing, but require sustained effort, can damage ecosystem balance, and can lead to secondary deaths. Trapping is a non-lethal control but requires permits and is disruptive to the animal and likely leads to animal death. Various fencing methods are effective but are costly.
Alternatively, bud capping has been found to discourage browsing, as has the use of repellents that may be sprayed on the seedlings. Known bud capping devices require the use of a staple to hold opposite edges of a piece of paper stock together, forming a cylindrical tube around the terminus of a seedling bud. Unfortunately, such crude prior art devices require a forester or nursery staff member to carry around a bulky and difficult-to-use stapler. Worse, the stapling operation is typically performed by wrapping the seedling terminus with the paper stock and then stapling the edges together. Often the staple penetrates the seedling's stem, thereby damaging the seedling. Always, the staple penetrates the paper stock, thereby diminishing its water-repellent capability. None of the known prior art incorporates repellent or scenting into a bud cap as a form of double browse prevention.